With nominal GDP of 548 billion dollars, Poland produces 302 million tons of CO2 (2014). France emits 333 tons of CO2 with nominal GDP of 2834 billion dollars (over five times higher than Polish GDP). Why do we emit over 90% of this what France does? There is no doubt that the structure of energy sources bears responsibility for this. In Poland coal is the main source of electric energy and in France it is uranium. The more detailed comparison is contained in the presentation above. Are there any signs of change in Poland? Indeed. The share of renewables grows together with hydro-energy which exceeded 12%. In France, it is over 16%, in Germany – 26%. However, the share of renewables is difficult to link directly to the general level of development, as for example in America it is less than 7%. However, all of these countries mentioned so far have one thing in common: the share of renewable energy grows there.

Fossil fuels are the main energy sources in Poland. They cover more than 87% of the electricity demand in our country. Since about 10 years the share of fossil fuels in electricity production is decreasing, although it is still very high.

If the share of fossil fuels decreases, the energy shortage should be supplemented from other sources. These are renewable energy sources, such as biomass or wind power and solar energy.

The remaining 2% of the energy in Poland comes from hydroelectric plants. The level of shares in this case sustains at that level with slight fluctuations over the last years.

This structure of energy sources results in large emissions of CO2 that is generated with production of energy in the total emissions of CO2 in Poland.

For comparison, in France the share of fossil fuels in production of energy amounts to 5%.

The hydro-energy is 10%.

The remaining renewable sources remain at the level of over 5%.

Meanwhile, in France nuclear power plants are the main sources of electricity. They produce 78% of energy. The rapid increase in the share of this energy in the overall energy balance of France took place in ‘80s and was at the expense of fossil fuels which the share decreased from over 50% to around 5% at that time.

Another structure of energy sources in France is immediately visible in the share of emissions of CO2 from the energy production in this country. The share of total CO2 emissions in France is about 17%, which is significantly less than in Poland. Besides, the total CO2 emissions in France is about 333 million tons and in Poland which economy is several times smaller it amounts to about 302 million tonnes, that is, more than 90% of the emissions of France.